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Media Release

2 June 2015

NSW Government Moves Back Office Into The Future

2 June 2015

Over 6,000 public servants will have access to the latest technology tools, improved customer service, 24/7 support and faster turnaround times following the announcement today of contracts signed between the NSW Government and global technology specialists, Unisys and Infosys.

Minister for Finance, Services and Property, Dominic Perrottet, said the Baird Government was continuing its innovation drive by outsourcing the functions of shared service provider ServiceFirst to the business community.

"The hard working ServiceFirst staff have done a terrific job in a difficult environment of making legacy systems and processes work for the agencies they support", said Mr Perrottet. "But this model is inefficient, expensive, based on outdated technology and designed for a 9 to 5 world which no longer exists. This is causing our staff frustration and costing taxpayers money."

"It's time to move our back office into today's world, give our public servants the tools they need to work effectively and shift to modern, flexible and scalable technology solutions."

The deal will see Unisys and Infosys leveraging their expertise and scale, to deliver better, more efficient back office ERP (enterprise resource planning) and transactional services, such as IT services, payroll, recruitment, accounts.

The new hybrid delivery model from on-shore and off-shore locations will see a new specialist delivery centre established in Western Sydney. This approach is expected to deliver savings of around $20 million per annum, which will be reinvested in front-line services.

Key benefits for public servants and agencies include:

Move from 'nine to five' service desk arrangements to 24/7 user support, with automated forms and digital service requests

Support for employees to use their own mobile and desktop devices in the work environment and out of office access to the desktop to enable flexible work options

Shift to an 'as a service' model where agencies will be charged for what they use rather than annual billing

Reduced costs from the consolidation of multiple on-premise ERP solutions into a single cloud based platform

Transition to the NSW Government data centres, in line with the NSW ICT Strategy

Potential for other agencies to on-board and leverage scale and efficiencies.

Mr Perrottet said a revamped back office would empower the public service to better serve citizens.

"Public servants will be the beneficiaries of this announcement as they will now have access to the technology tools of today to enable them to work smarter," he said. "We can now focus on our transformation agenda while leaving back office processes to the experts."

"The Baird Government is committed to ensuring a digital future for the NSW public service and the citizens of this state."

ServiceFirst currently supports agencies including the Department of Finance, Services & Innovation (DFS&I), Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC), Department of Planning and Environment (DP&E), The Treasury (Treasury), Service NSW (SNSW) and the Public Service Commission (PSC).

The Department of Finance, Services and Innovation will manage the transition to the new model in conjunction with existing clients, with ServiceFirst continuing to provide shared services for agencies during this period. Comprehensive support arrangements have been put in place for impacted staff, with the Department working closely with the Public Service Association.

The transition to the new delivery model will be completed by December 2015.